The Plight of the Shadow Knight

[Tajin898]

This thread is just my attempt to get feedback from everyone on what the life of a Shadow Knight looks like into Kunark and ultimately Velious.

The word on the street is that SK's have it very well right now, great aggro-holders and what not. But that Warriors begin to take the lead in Kunark and hold it throughout Velious. So, what becomes of SK's (and ultimately Paladins as well, though I'm only concerned about SK's in this thread)?

Are they still sought after as tanks? Can they raid tank? Can they solo? Just looking for overall thoughts on what to expect through the coming 2 expansions.

Thanks so much for the feedback!

[Tallenn]

As far as I know, it is only /disc defensive that makes warriors any better at tanking anything than SKs/Pallys. Knights will always be able to get and hold agro better, and aside from defensive will always be able to take the hits just as well.

[President]

Originally Posted by Tallenn [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

As far as I know, it is only /disc defensive that makes warriors any better at tanking anything than SKs/Pallys. Knights will always be able to get and hold agro better, and aside from defensive will always be able to take the hits just as well.

Uh warriors take hits much better than SK's and Pallys.

[Tallenn]

Originally Posted by President [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

Uh warriors take hits much better than SK's and Pallys.

I keep hearing that, but so far, I've never heard of any mechanic that actually makes it true. I'm not trying to be facetious, I'm honestly curious about exactly HOW warriors are able to take more damage than Paladins and SKs.

Do they have a different mitigation table?
Do they have access to gear with much better AC?
Do they have a higher mitigation cap?

I've already mentioned defensive disc, but aside from that (it's got a recast delay, and it's only a short term -usually 1 fight- discipline) what specific game mechanic(s) make warriors better?

I generally played a healer class in live- druid, then cleric- and I noticed a considerable difference in ability to hold agro, but almost no difference in ability to take damage. This was not just classic, but all the way through LDoN. Now the fact is, tanks always have been, and probably always will be, under-represented, so you take whoever you can get for your group, but when there's a choice, most people will choose the SK, then the Pal, then the War for an XP group.

All I have to go by is the perception, based on personal experience. If you have real game data to refute that perception, some real in-game mechanic that really does help warriors take damage better than knights, then I honestly, truly would like to hear it, and see the evidence.

[Wolrok]

If I remember correctly, warriors have higher defensive skill caps (which gives slightly higher mitigation) and gets more HP from stamina than paladins or shadowknights. I believe they also have passive damage reduction (5% less damage?).

That being said, I wouldn't be surprised if on P1999, that a shadowknight or paladin ends up main tanking some of the Kunark/Velious raids.

Player skill is quite a bit different now than it was back when those expansions were first released.

[Nedala]

At least the ToV armor for warriors is way better and has a good amound more AC than the paladin ToV armor.

[Kainzo]

Originally Posted by Wolrok [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

If I remember correctly, warriors have higher defensive skill caps (which gives slightly higher mitigation) and gets more HP from stamina than paladins or shadowknights. I believe they also have passive damage reduction (5% less damage?).

That being said, I wouldn't be surprised if on P1999, that a shadowknight or paladin ends up main tanking some of the Kunark/Velious raids.

Player skill is quite a bit different now than it was back when those expansions were first released.

Player skill is about the same, there are just more players in the MMO genre.

[xorbier]

It depends if your talking about grouping or raiding. In my experience warriors were the preferred tank in Kunark and Velious but sk's and paly's did fine in groups. Warriors really shined on raids where they are significantly superior. This is a fact and I would tend to think most would agree. This isn't to say sk's or paly's are bad but higher hit points, higher ac, and defensive abilities are all contributing factors that make warriors better at taking damage. Which class does the most damage is another story but that's not a tanks priority.

Having played a warrior from classic to PoP I will say it's harder for them to keep aggro initially, but this gets easier with better weapons released in Kunark and even easier in Velious where the difference is negligible. I never had issues getting groups and was frequently told I was much easier to heal then SKs or Palys.

If your goal is to be a raid tank you should consider rolling a warrior. If you want the flexibility of tanking and playing a dps role SKs would probably be the better choice. SKs tend to be preferred as a dps role as well.

If you disagree you're a racist.

[Skope]

I've had Sks tank on a few raids during kunark/velious and they did very well. Don't think it's "much better," in fact i think the difference has always remained quite slight.

[TheDudeAbides]

In Kunark/Velious it's no contest

Warrior hands down